good morning, sunshine. gosh, it's really early, isn't it? i'm impressed that you're up so early. i'm robin meade jumping right into the news now. president obama could get an earful today when he takes on health care reform. how he's approaching the any town hall meetings all over the country. jeff gordon brings one of nascar's scariest crashes. despite how bad it looked someone walked away a winner in yesterday's race. and then crying babies, overflowing toilets, it's a night mary. why people were forced to spend

the night in a plane right there on the tarmac. can you imagine? all right. more on that story. first let's start with this. president obama is facing the crisis of the health care reform. he's trying to shift his message to explain how reform would affect people who already have insurance. but he's also preparing for the kind of argument that missouri senator clair mccass kel heard at her town hall meeting last night. >> this is more than taking care of health care. >> i think it was a huge mistake for anything to suggest that anyone opposed to the health care plan is manufactured. it's not manufactured now.

i think both sides are. they had to step up security to keep crowds in check. one town hall meeting canceled a forum after facing a death threat. hundreds of people may be buried alive after mudslides swaled an entire town. officials say nearly 9 million people were aeffected in china. china was also hit. one man says he may have lost his entire family in the landslilan landsli landslide. >> translator: the mountain collapsed. we live on a mountain side. all my relatives are buried. >> translator: my mother and father are in there. they won't survive. i have four really actilatives

>> people told state-run media hundreds may be trapped in battered village. one official said a mudslide buried roads that cut off water and electric supplies. people were forced to spend a night on a grounded plane and had to deal with a stopped up toilet, crying babies and no food. continental airlines is apologizing now and offering refunds for passengers. it was diverted to rochester, minnesota, because of bad weather. it landed around midnight. the 47 passengers onboard couldet get off until 6:00 a.m. saturday. >> we did nothing whatsoever. when we landed in ross chester a flight atell danlt asked does anybody want a drink. i think a few people got a drink at 12:30. people at that point had gone

nine, 10, 11 hours without any food. >> how do you keep your blood sugar up. they said that passengers couldn't get off because security screeners at the airport had gone off duty. the airport said they could have stayed in the terminal but the airline refused. can you believe it. that is a terrible crash atnas car. it is amazing that everyone was able to walk away from it. here's rafer weigel with more on the outcome. it was rain delayed, that's why it was yesterday? >> that's right. it was rained out sunday and they picked it up on monday. you look at this and think how did anybody survive it. amazingly there were no serious injuries. jeff gordon, one of nascar's most popular driver said he hurt his back.

s gordon's car slid head on into it. all in all, six cars involved. in the end, tony stewart would win the race for a record fifth time. and, again, only gordon has a sore back at this point. robin? >> thank you very much. michael jackson's autopsy is done, but we still don't know what it say. the l.a. coroner's office says the police has asked them not to release the singer's cause of death because of their ongoing investigation. they could file criminal charges against jackson's doctor, doctor murray. he gave the alleged propofol in the 24 hours before he died. >> it's certainly one of the truisms of criminal law that cases don't get better with time. you should file a case as soon as you have good evidence, but this is a complicated case. there's a lot of scientific evidence involved, tissue of cause of death, michael

jackson's access to drugs is a complicated one. dr. murray is not a fugitive. he's not going to go anywhere. so i think it's best to make sure you have the best evidence you possibly can before you file charges. a judge wants to appoint a lawyer for jackson's children to go over the details. the contracts are for tribute concerts next summer and a traveling memorabilia exhibit. the final rehearsal will be in the theatre october 30th. come here and look at what a hailstorm did in iowa. it also forced a state park to close so officials could clean up the debris. 11 people had minor injury. buildings an cars were no match for the severe weather. >> it was supposed to last 24 25 years and take extreme hail and it was no match for the hail we got yesterday, especially for as long as it came down. >> sun roofs knocked out,

windshields, side glass. of course, you can see the glass is pummeled. all the cars look like that. tropical storm felicia, we're still talking about it. and those folks in hawaii, you're like six hours behind us here, before you go to bed, let's final out what's going on. >> i'll give you the latest number from about an hour ago. if you look at the satellite picture, here it is. it doesn't look like very much. a few showers trying to build up. it's going to head into the honolulu area probably later on this afternoon for you guys, your time and it stechs off as a remnant low on the other part of your island, so i don't expect to see much by way of wind. but the waves are out there. look at the big swell. look at the surfer. if that's how you get big waves you can definitely handle this. but if it moves on in, you can expect to see a lot of rain.

all right. back to the u.s. here's what it looks like. a couple of showers in the lower parts of arkansas. stronger storms in oklahoma city. in shreveport you can see an outflow boundary. that's the leading edge of the gusty winds. more showers. not severe but they're out there. tropical depression number two has formed in the atlantic by the cape verde islands way in the eastern part of the atlantic ocean. i'll show you that graphic in a little bit. it's starting to get more active and heating up in the tropics. more in a half hour. have i got a story for you. people claim they've seen religious images on toast, ovens. now some people in raleigh, north carolina, say they see the figure of geez with outstretched arms in this overgrowth. it's growing over a power line and a power pole overlooking the

train tracks. what do you think? >> it looks like dracula. blua, bl ua. a roller coaster left people dangling as high as 80 feet for hours.

it is time right now to salute our troops. today is for sergeant sax mill da. she and her 1-year-old son can't wait for him to get back home. want to tell him how very proud i am of him. i think it takes an unbelievable amount of courage and sacrifice on his part to fight for our country. i can't wait for him to come home and meet our adorable son.

don't worry, baby. our son is staying awake all night so he'll be on your time zone when you come home. >> that was a great message. do you have somebody you want to salute? go to cnn.com/robin. can you imagine being stuck for hours in a roller-coaster 80 feet high? it happened on the invertigo in california. all the people were upright, at least. the cruise brought the people down in buckets one at a time. it was 90 degrees outside. the park has not returned calls from people who commented. do you want a free cup of joe? you can get it? it's free. any kind of coffee. what owners hope you do after you get a free cup of joe. you know, a lot of people are losing their jobs, but it turns out that many are finding new ones fairly quickly.

our money expert jennifer westhoven has what we'll call good news in a bad economy. good morning. >> it's one survey, but it looks good, so, look. you can only do good by talking good in the job market. you know, it is really tough out there. yeah. so this survey found -- it's a survey of laid off worker. it found that as of june, 48% of the people who lost their jobs in the previous month, 48% of them had found new full-time jobs. so they were finding work faster than just three months before. that sounds good. also out of those who found jobs, the majority of them either got the same pay or better. you should know the survey was paid for by the job-hunting website career builder, and the oh official numbers, the labor department numbers say the job hunt has been getting longer and lasts for six months. still, though, at least in one survey, it looks like things are

getting a little bet jeer cash for clunkers, we've been talking about how it's good for you. it's not good for charities. if you donate a used car u, you get a tax break. one has lost $75,000 in donationses. >> we're in a catch 22 situation. obviously we want the economy to be stimulated but on the other hand we're completely depep dent on these donations. >> that's one charity. the kidney foundation says they expect their donations to fall 10 to 15% this year. you know, we'll see, robin because we've got a few charities saying that's got a negligible effect. >> depending on what your budget is for the year, yeah. thank you. he's got the hair but does rod blagojevich have the moves to pull off an elvis

impersonati impersonation. let's say something was lost in translation.

good morning. 16 minutes past the hour. one body is still missing after a plane/chopper collision in new york. police say divers found the

eighth victim's body yesterday in the hudson river but it wasn't possible to remove it right away. crews will try to lift the plane out of the water today. here's a call that someone made to 911 right after saturday's crash. >> wow. investigators are still trying to reconstruct what exactly happened. nine people were killed when the plane and chopper collided in midair. firefighters have not been able to tame a large brushfire in the california mountains. the forest service says that it grew by 400 acres yesterday in a remote -- if i can only speak today -- in a remote area of santa barbara county. now it burned more than 14,000 acres since it broke out on saturday. a dozen camp grounds nearby were

evacuated. it's not threatening any homes, and there were no injuries. still reeling from the fatal shooting of their coach, a high school football team was taking its first step trying to move forward. this could not be easy, rafer. >> yeah, robin. forgive this cliche, but this coach was more than a coach. he was a father figure to these kigs. you guys remember this story. this was in iowa. two months after police say ed thomas was coached down by a former student they held their first practice of the year on monday. now, the two head coaches who were assistants under thomas say they're trying to keep things as routine as possible. they're trying to start the same time and the same way. they'll play the first game of the season on national tv on august 28. and it was something out of a disney movie. angels' slugger vladi got this

request. it's my birthday, hit me a home run. not only did he hit him a home run. in the seventh inning he would hit not only the game-winning home run, but it was the 400th home run of his career as they would eventually beat tampa bay and the crowd goes wild. ostrich racing. look at this. good for you, bucking the jockey here. this is part of extreme race day. that guy is hanging on for dear life. they also had camel races but reportedly there was no wagering on these ostrich races, and that's what's important. >> i didn't realize ostriches are enough to carry a person. >> and they are fast. >> cnn has confirmed that eunice shriver has passed away. the 88-year-old had been hospitalized. her family including her daughter maria shriver has been

at her side at a hospital in massachusetts. eunice shriver is the sister of john. if kennedy and was the founder of u.s. special olympics. breaking news, eunice shriver has passed away. certainly our thoughts go out to her family. rod blagojevich has a new gig as an elvis impersonator. are you kidding me? yes. he's s ee's sang elvis presley't me nice." you can book him for speaking engagements, maybe more sinking. thank you. thank you very much. i swear the guy's never seen a camera that he didn't love. >> you're absolutely right. at this point my son at 5 would come out rolling busting out in

a show tune. maybe he'll show up on youtube. he's like the w.b. frog. no delays through the weather. charlotte has a delay, a departure delay, 23 minutes because of runway construction. we have new york towercams. throw that up. here with go. boston, new york metro, philly, atlanta, cleveland, st. louis, 30 minutes to an hour. everybody should see delays of less than an hour. that's good news for the travelers on a tuesday morning. with ee el have more details on that coming up in just about a half hour. >> thank you. a 4-year-old thought fast when his grandfather's life was in danger. >> he handled it better than i did. >> i saved papa's life. >> they say this little boy acted just in the nick of time.

cnn confirms that eunice kennedy shriver died this morning. her family including maria shriver had been at her side at a hospital in massachusetts. shriver was a sister of john. if kennedy and she started the special olympics. she was 88 years old. we're getting a dramatic video of an entire town swallowed by mudslides and floods. hundreds of people may be buried alive. it's a powerful aftermath of a deadly typhoon that hit china and taiwan. china says nearly 9 million are affected there. banks are not out of the

woods even though the economy is showing a turnaround. now, it says that banks still have billions of bad loans weighing down their balance fees. that's just a few of their stories we're following. i'll tell you what. we have a lot more where that's coming from. nearly 2,000 people will pack a high school gym today to ask the president about health care reform. the town hall meeting in new hampshire is part of the administration's effort to reshape the debate about a public insurance option. both critics and supporters are planning rallies around today's forum, and there's extra security to keep the crowds under control. >> i think we're going to see upward to 100,000 people to coming from old to young, wealthy to poor. >> there are many people going there to show their support, rallying in favor of health care reform and showing support to the president and his policies. >> at the end of the day if

everyone's safe, no one's hurting and the president is on his way home, we'll be happy. >> nationwide angry constituents have put lawmakers like maryland's senator ben card en n the offensive. >> i'm 65 i'm in a public plan. it's called medicare. >> he argued that medicare can run an insurance plan because it's cheaper than private insurance for the elderly. two powerful earthquakes hit earlier today in tokyo. at least one person was killed by falling debris and more than 60 people were injured. the first earthquake was a magnitude 7.6 in the indian ocean. now, the second quake was a 6 pont 5 near tokyo. a fellow republican wants to

impeach mark sanford over plane tickets. the same senator called for him to resign after he had an affair. he says he's breaking news for taking first-class flights to laup and china for business. a spokesperson says his accusations are wrong. police in michigan are looking for a man who's accused or holding a gun to a woman. first he's pointing a gun at the teller. he demanded money and threatened to take the customer hostage. the woman was able to get away, but the suspect did take some money. finally we get to a story we want to talk about. talk about lost in translation. secretary of state hillary clinton apparently got angry with a q & a session. a student speaking in french, mind you, asked what president obama would think about chinese financial contracts with congo o, b

o, but apparently the translator made a mistake and asked the secretary of state what mr. clinton would think. >> you want me to tell you what mr. clinton thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i'm the secretary of state. you want my opinion. i i'm not going to be channelling. >> they spoke afterward and seemed to have reached an understanding. but it's not the student's fault and if you look at it it's not the secretary of state's fault. i would be the translator's fault. >> poor third grader. >> it wasn't a third grader. it was a university student. but, man. >> you know, it could have been a lot worse, the translation. it could have been worse. you saw the dancing yesterday. it could have been something like that. what's up. good morning to you. tropical depression number two

on its way. you can see the tip of after ka. you can see this. here's t.d. 2. only winds at 30 miles per hour. it could become a named tropical storm today or tomorrow. tropical storm bill is the next on the list. it's been a long time coming for t.d. number 2, but we finally have it. look at the showers and thunderstorms coming around vermont. sliding into money chest ter. look at the showers coming in south of buffalo. it's right across the shoreline getting in toward jamestown too. that's going to be a heavy rainmaker for you. the other big story for the northeast, if you're traveling toward new york city, it's going to be hot. temperatures 92 to 95. heat advisories for all five boroughs. this will all be back on in toward the region. that will be later on. we'll talk about that in a half hour.

good to see you on a tuesday morning. >> thank you, thank you. some of the stories we're already away and watching in the "morning express." a man accused of running a drug cartel is expected to be heard this morning. the hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. in miami. and they'll speak about border security. she'll speak at a border security conference at 11:30 a.m. u.s. banks are making billions of dollars in pure profit and if you're not careful it could be coming right out of your pocket?

you. put out be a nonprofit group that wanted more knew terrible lunches. they add president obama's daughters get healthy lunches, why don't i. the group says they will not take the posters down. the l.a. reports about two years ago overcrowding created a dangerous situation at a prison in chino and a riot injured people there. chicago is getting a new area code this fall. 872. they say the u.s. will run out of three digit codes and will be getting four-digit one. he says schwarzenegger overstepped his authority. when he used a line it cut almost half a billion dollar from the state budget. they had already agreed the $24

billion in other cuts. schwarzenegger spokesperson says that the additional cuts were legal and fp chally necessary. kate gosselin says they would have split whether they were on tv or not. that i were on the tv reality show. she says that she thinks staying with the show is healthy even though they're separated. on the "today" show she was asked why she still wears her wedding ring. her answer was, "for the kids." >> i'm sorry. >> that's okay. >> i don't want to upset them. it -- i want to be as real and as honest as i want to be. i don't want to shock them. i've walked slowly through this with them. >> she didn't say a lot when

asked about allegations about jon gosselin's affair. she says there are two people right now with two sets of goals. u.s. banks are making billions of dollars in extra cash this year and they've got you to thank for it. our money expert jennifer westhoven is looking out for you. wait a minute. didn't we just bail them out? >> well, you're baling them out in other ways, too. more of us are writing bad checks as you can imagine in tough times but, boy, are they cashing in on that. they're expected to make $38.5 billion in overdraft fees. it's a privilege for you to get overdraft fees. so that is almost what the banks rate did nine years ago. and they are making most of this money on the backs of the people who are in the most trouble, people with the lower credit scores are the people having the most problems having the most

accidents writing the most bad checks some of here you have the bangs taking a huge amount of the service fees and it's coming from the people who can afford it the least. you know those people aren't going to pay for something if they can get it for tree. it turns out it's hurting -- >> movies makers, actors and models are seeing let. people who want upon can find plenty of it for free on the internet. industry insighter i say that just since 2007 representative knew in that industry has dropped 30 to 50%. it's cheaper to make that too because you've got real people who are willing to try to become famous. >> but i thought i heard that was one of the recession-proof industries. >> i think that usually it would have been, but now if you've goet this whole influx of free product --

>> yeah. thank you. appreciate it. new trials for a swine flu vaccine are going on across the country. we're going to go to one lab and hear why one volunteer said that he signed up, and -- >> it was pretty gross. the kids thought it was pretty funny. >> i'm thinking absolutely wild, crazy. a town has found a new energy source. how people's bathrooms are helping make power. ú@

would you do this or not? people are lining up for experimental swine flu vaccines. government o-funded tests are happening in eight u.s. city. experts say scientists are working at break-neck is speed. volunteers in st. louis don't know if they're getting the h1n1 vaccine or a regular vaccine or a pla see beau. >> i've always been a big dleever in vaccines so i think it's pretty safe and of great benefit, you know, to people to

be able to prevent this, you know, various illnesses. >> volunteers across the u.s. will get different combinations of two h1n1 vaccines. health officials expect to have about 160 million doses, by the way, of vaccines available this fall of the h1n1 vaccine. a town has found a way to make electricity of the water that goes down your drain. in mesa, arizona, a treatment plant has been making treat and power from what we'll call waste water. >> it's an involved process, but i think with the energy cost the way they're going, it's definitely a wave of the future so to speak. it's got to go somewhere and you might as well break it down and use it beneficially. >> town officials say they'll save $90,000 a year by using the new plant. >> not enough. not enough. >> not enough. >> not enough.

>> no. >> no. got to get over 100,000 dlfrs before it would be user-friendly. what's up? >> good morning, bob. >> let me show you what's going on in new york city. if you're flying up there. i don't think it's going to be too bad. you're going to see a mass inially hot day for you compared to what you've seen for the whole month of ju. now that we're in mid august, now it's going the feel like it. a few thunderstorms are going to pop today. so if you get a short delay out of that, same thing. philadelphia, atlanta, a few shower. same with cleveland and st. louis. but look at that leist. it's relatively short. i think it's a good day to travel today, rob. more on that in a half hour. >> okay. thank you very much. all righty. we've got 47 minutes past the hour. it's sports time and i can see rafer talking over here so something's got him excited. >> let's talk about one of my

most colorful characters in baseball, ozzie guillen. he has little warning out there. after a bunch of his players were hit over the weekend, he says, from now on, you hit our players, we're going to be hitting back. three of his players got hit against the indians on sunday. he says if one of his player is intentionally hit, they're going to take two other players down. >> you cannot say that. >> you cannot. this is what he said. he would say he would rather been suspended than have one of his players get hurt. shoe macker will not step in for ferrari driver felipe massa because schumaker himself is still hurt from a motorcycle crash earlier in the year. good news is they say massa is doing fine and he'll be back himself. it's their 35th world

cocktail championships from germany. i thought you would enjoy the flair of these guys mixing and spinning. tom cruise, eat your heart out. 800 competitors from 250. classic and flair. you can see the fans take it very seriously. that's a look at sports. >> do you know how messy it must be to learn that? get a load of this story. if you're a country fan, you're going to go what? brooks & dunn are calling it quits after nearly 20 years. these guys. ♪ >> okay. that's like one of a gazillion hits of theirs. they say their 2010 tour will be their a good-bye to their fan. they said that the split was a mutual decision.

the duo had 21 number one hits since their 91 debuts, "brand new man." i guess they say it's time, but what do you know your credit score? before you rush off to buy what you think is your real credit score, hear what clark howard has to say about the credit report you really need. >> you know, one of the most difficult and confusing things for a consumer is now that we know more and more about credit reports, is trying to decipher credit scores. because you heard me say scores plural. you think you only have a single credit score and the credit bureaus all sing about how you can buy your score from them. do you know only one of the three major credit bureaus sells you a real score? that's equifax. they style the fico score, the one they actually use.

transunion and experian sell you their own made up score nobody uses to make loans. when you're spending your money to see your score buy the real thing at myfico.com or ec qui tax.com or buy one at quizzle.com for an estimate. i'm clark howard for more ways for you to be smart with your wallet, go to clarkhoward. >> catch clark on saturday and sunday here at 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. eastern. dozens of cars clashed with police. the trouble started sunday when a pizza deliverer was killed running from police on his motorcycle. witnesses athe police car hit him and police say he hit a metal barrier.

long standing clashes between young people and police have caused riots there. a coffee shop offering free coffee all the time. >> it doesn't cost anything. it's free for any kind of coffee. >> how's that going to work?

good morning. as the alarm goes off, we're ready to greet you and get your morning going. good morning, sunshine. i'm robin. president obama could get an ear f earful today. how can he change the approach on health care across the country. and this crash, can you believe that tape of jeff go gordon? despite that, someone still walked away a winner. picture it. babies crying, overflowing toilets, a nightmare all night long, why people were forced to spend the night on the plane

right there on the tarmac! talk about frustrating. breaking news today, eunice kennedy shriver has died this morning. her family said she was the light of our lives. shriver was the sister of john f. kennedy. she started the special olympics. her family, including her daughter, maria, had been at her side at a massachusetts hospital. eunice kennedy shriver was 88 years old. president obama facing public outrage over health care reform holding a town hall today this afternoon. he's trying to shift his message to explain how reform would affect people who already have insurance. he's trying to prepare against arguments missouri councilman heard. >> this is more about taking control than health care. >> yeah! yeah! >> it's only the first step --

>> i think it was a huge mistake for anyone to suggest anybody opposed to the health care plan is manufactured. it's not manufactured. now, i think both sides are organizing. that's what we do in democracy. >> senator mccaskill is one of many lawmakers who stepped up security at their town halls to keep the crowds in check. one north carolina councilman canceled his forum after getting a death threat and some other dems opt ford teleconferences instead. hundreds of people may be buried alive after mudslides covered entire towns. it is the aftermath of a deadly typhoon. more than 11 million people are affected in china. taiwan was also hit. take a look at the video, one man says he may have lost his entire family in the mudslide. >> the mountain collapsed. we live in a lower level. the landslide was on a higher

ground. all my relatives are buried. >> my mother and father are in there. no one survived. i have four relatives there in. >> meanwhile a helicopter carrying three people crashed during a rescue operation in taiwan. we don't know what happened to them yet. crews have been trying to rescue people trapped in debris. and official in taiwan said a mudslide buried roads and cut off water and electric supplies. people forced to spend the night on a grounded plane had tone do you remember a stopped up toilet, crying baby, no food at all. continental airlines is apologizing now and offering refunds to the passenger. a flight from houston to minneapolis was diverted to rochester, minnesota because of bad weather. it landed around midnight. the 47 people on board were not allowed to get off until 6:00 saturday morning. >> they did nothing whatsoever. i mean, when we landed in

rochester, the flight attendant yelled back to us, does anybody want a drink? i think a few people got a drink at 12:30. from that point on, we were never offered food or water. we hadn't had food on the original flight, we had a bag of pretzels. people at that point had gone nine, 10, 11 hours without any food. >> expressjet that ran the flight said the passengers could not get up because security screeners at the airport had gone off-duty. the airport says they could have stayed in the terminal but the airline refused. what a nightmare! what a terrible crash in nascar this was. wow. it is amazing. it was amazing that everyone was able to walk away from this. here's rafer with more on that. i don't know how but glad they did. >> yeah, robin, this was a race rain delayed from sunday to monday on a track known for its crashes. amazingly there, were no serious injuries. only jeff gordon one of nascar's

more popular drivers said he hurt his back. the crash started when sam hornish junior goes back from the tire area and gordon hits him there. six cars were involved. in the end, tony stewart would win the race for a record fifth time. >> thank you. wow. amazing. michael jackson's autopsy is done. we still don't know what's in that report. the l.a. coroner's office said the police asked them not to release the singer's cause of death because of their ongoing investigation. they could file criminal charges against jackson's doctor, conrad murray. he allegedly gave jackson the powerful sedative row. >> cases don't get better with time. you should file a case as soon as you have good evidence. this is a complicated case. there is an a lot of scientific

evidence involved, the issue of cause of death. michael jackson's access to drugs is really a complicated one. conrad murray is not a fugitive, he's not going to go anywhere. i do think it makes a lot of sense to make sure you have the best case you possibly can before you file any charges. >> also, yesterday, a judge delayed a decision about several contracts for the jackson estate. he wants to appoint a lawyer for jackson's children to go over the details. the contracts are for tribute concerts next summer and memorabilia. the judge already approved a movie about jackson's final rehearsal and will be in theaters october 30th. >> look what a hailstorm did in iowa. it forced the state park to close so officials could clean up the debris. 11 people had minor injuries. the buildings said cars were no match for this kind of weather. >> it's supposed to last 25 years and supposed to take

pretty extreme hail. it was no match for hail we got yesterday, especially as long as it came down. >> sunroofs knocked out, windshields, side glass. you can see the van is pummeled. all the cars look like that. >> yeah. can you imagine that. too many cars being a clunker not in the cash for clunkers program. here's meteorologist bob van dillen, keeping an eye on tropical storm felicia. still a tropical storm in hawaii. >> yes. anything over 39 miles an hour is a tropical storm. right now, 40 miles an hour, sustained winds. you can see it doesn't look very healthy at all. still low level circulation associated with i. the path will take it to the island later today and stretches through the middle part of the island chain and moves on up.ñ probably strengthen as a tropical depression and heavy rain. check out this video coming in out of oahu.

there you go. that is great stuff. big swell coming in. reached them yesterday morning and maui and now in oahu. it will build all day long today. the surfers will enjoy today, probably through the weekend as it sits there. back to the continental u.s. places like oklahoma city stretching towards texarkana. big line of thunderstorms training towards the same area. heavy thunderstorms part of the day and then later arrive again. around oklahoma city and stretching towards the south and east. as for the northeast, another hot day a little hotter in new york and boston. look at the rain showers towards buffalo. showers and thundershowers in the morning and heat advisory for nyc, all five buoroughs today. it will feel hotter with he multiple. actual temperature 92, but with

humidity, 95. take you live to d.c. traveling, nice start to the morning, 75 degrees. lots of sunshine, 92. a little daytime heating again and cold front to the west and instability and thunderstorms popping around the beltways, we will watch for that later today. thank you. an amusement park ride turned into an emotional roller coaster and left people dangling as high as 80 feet for hours. at least they were right up. hillary clinton had a strong response to one student's question. let's just say there was something lost in translation. @.

our salute today, a staff sergeant mailed to his wife.

he's not due until next spring but she and her 1-month-old son cannot wait until he gets home. >> good morning, robin. this is lindsey and i'm saluting my husband, zack in afghanistan. i want to tell him how proud i am of him. it takes an unbelievable amount of courage and sacrifice on his part to fight for our country. i can't wait for him to come home and meet our adorable son. don't worry, adam is still staying awake all night so he'll be on your time zone when you come home. i love you and miss you. >> a cute message about the baby's on your time zone, schedule. >> if you know somebody in the service, go to cnn.com/robin so we can salute them. imagine being stuck on a roller coaster 80 feet hichlgt it happened on the invertigo. yesterday. fire officials say at least these people were upright, 24 of them.

crews brought the people down in buckets one at a time. it was 90 degrees outside. it was all around uncomfortable. the amusement park has not returned calls for comment. wouldn't you know, it's one of those coasters you feel like is there nothing below you? your feet are dangling. >> yeah. >> a lot of people -- not fun. you know a lot of people are losing their jobs, turns out many people are find new ones fairly quickly. we will call that good news in a bad economy. >> this is not the most official of surveys out there. i still think any time people looking so hard for work for good news will tell it to you. this is one survey found as of june that 48% of people who lost their job in the latest three months, they had found new full time jobs. when they took the same survey three months ago, this one is doing better, more people finding jobs out there. out of those finding jobs the

majority got the same or better pay. the survey was paid for careerbuilder a job hunting website. i want to round it out, when luke at the official numbers, the labor department said it's taking longer to find a new job. they say the average job search right now lasts about six months. cash for clunkers, you see it all over the news how it could be a great deal for you but may not be a great deal for charities there. are many good causes that rely on used cars for revenue. you donate a used car, gate tax revenue. a charity said they lost $75,000 in donations. >> we're in a catch-22 situation. obviously, we want the economy to be stimulated. on the other hand, we are completely dependent on these donations and how we keep the kids in school. >> that's one charity. the national kidney foundation says it expects used car donations to fall 10 to 15%

although the white house did say maybe it's just some charities. the white house thought it would have a negligible effect on some charities. if your traveling today, maybe you want to hear the hot spot. in charlotte, a 23 minute delay for construction, departure delay, getting out a little late but not that bad. in atlanta, traveling down here, nice sunrise, up to 92, 93 degrees this afternoon. we have a cold front off towards the north and west could spark a couple of t-showers later this afternoon. a decent day to travel. boston, new york, philly, atlanta, short delays in clevela cleveland, st. louis, everybody under an hour today. i would say today is the best day of the week to travel. he has the hair but does rod blagojevich have the moves to pull off an elvis impersonation. we have a video captured of

two quakes and lightning strikes all coming up. @@p

one body still missing after a plane-chopper crash in new york city. police found the eighth victim's body yesterday in the plane's wreckage still submerged in the hudson river. it wasn't able to remove it

right away. crews will try lift the plane on itt itted -- out of the water today. here's a call after the crash. >> ma'am, what is your emergency qulsz >> investigators are still trying to reconstruct what exactly happened. nine people were killed when the plane and chopper collided in mid-ai mid-air. still reeling from the fatal shooting of their coach a high school football team now has to take steps to try to move forward. that's difficult because it happened, you know, obviously before their season started and it's a time when they would be spending a lot of time with them. >> that's right, robin. it has to be difficult for them and forgive the cliche, this man, this coach was more of a father figure that a coach. you folks may remember the story

two-minutes ago, ed thomas gunned down by a former student. monday, the team held its first practice of the year. the two former head coaches assistants under thomas said they will start things as routine and start practicing at the same time as they always did. it will be be their first game of the season on national tv on august 28th. it was something out of a disney movie. it was out of anaheim appropriately. angels slugger vladimir gets a request, vlad, hit me a home run. well, he gave him his wish and then he hit a second home run for angels to beat tampa bay and vlak 's 400th home run. this is wild ostrich races in minneapolis.

that guy gets caught. this is part of extreme race day. they also had camel races. i guess you didn't realize ostriches can run that fast there. was reportedly no wagering. that's a good thing. >> i didn't know they were strong enough to hold people. my gosh. if you thought you had seen it all after watching this you will have. it is former governor rod blagojevich jumping on stage and doing an elvis impersonation. >> ♪ >> you know what's funny, the crowd's cheering for him. singing pressley's "treat me nic nice." a block party in chicago and he jumps up on stage. he launched a new website and you can book him for speaking engagements. i don't know if there's more singing involved. rod blagojevich, never saw a

camera he didn't like. >> first of all everyone is taping it. someone screamed something like is it worth a lot of money or it's got a lot of value, that's what it was, referring to some of the quotes alleged in the fbi wiretap tape. long awaited skills, a high school gym yesterday more than 700 members of the oklahoma national guard arrived home. they're in the 45th fire brigade and just spent 10 months on duty in the iraq in kuwait. >> i got to see him for a short period on his leave and ready for him to be back home mine arms. >> ready to be back home in a place where i'm safe and where i'm around my family a very good feeling. >> that was the only -- the first celebration for the guard members because they will have another one this afternoon. >> the superstar country duo brooks and dunn. brooks and dunn are done? ♪

they won't be playing something country or anything else anymore. why the guys are calling it quit quits. a 4-year-old thought fast when his grandfather's life was in danger. 8

breaking news this morning, eunice kennedy shriver has died this morning. her family, including her daughter, maria shriver have been at her bed-side at a hospital in massachusetts. shriver was the sister of president john f. kennedy. she founded the special olympics. eunice kennedy shriver was 88 years old. >> we're getting in dramatic video of an entire town swallowed by mud sliced. hundreds of people may be buried alive. the aftermath of a deadly typhoon that hit parts of tai n taiwan. today, crews will try to retrieve a plane that collided

with a helicopter. wreckage of the copter was fo d found. and seven bodies have been recovered and one body missing. good morning, sunshine. i'm robin meade. nearly 2,000 people will pack a high school gym today to ask the president about health care reform. the health care meeting in nancy pelosi is part of the administration's effort to reshape the debate about a public health option. both critics and supporters are expected to be at today's forum. and they plan to keep the public under control. i think we will see every demographic, old and young, poor and wealthy. >> there are many people rallying to show support for health care reform and the support for the president and his policies. >> at the end of day no one's

hurt and everyone's safe the president's on his way home, we'll be happy. >> they should have a good idea what to expect. angered constituents have put some on the defensive. >> i happen to be turning 65 this year, i'm in a public plan, it's called medicare. >> senator cardin argued medicare proves the government can run and insurance plan because it's cheaper than private insurance for the elderly. two powerful earthquakes hit 10 minutes apart in asia earlier today. in tokyo, at least one person was killed by falling debris and more than 60 people injured. the first earthquake was a magnitude 7.6 in indian ocean near india's andaman islands. the second quake was a 6.5 magnitude near tokyo. tsunami warnings issued but later taken back.

the same state senator called for sanford to resign after having an affair and now this republican calls for sanford to resign after book in first class flights to european. and he says they are wrong. police are looking for man holding a gown a woman's head during a bank robbery. it shows the man pointing a gun toward a teller and threatens to take a customer hostage. the woman was able to get away but the suspect did take some money. talk about somehow getting lost in translation. secretary state hillary clinton got angry during a q&a session with congolese university student. the student speaking in french asked what president obama would think about chinese financial contracts with congo. but the translator apparently made a mistake and asked secretary clinton what mr.

clinton would think. that didn't go over very well. >> you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state, i am. >> you ask my opinion, i will tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channelling my husband. >> wourks state department officials say secretary clinton spoke with the student afterwards and seemed to quote have reached an understanding. like i'm here on official business, don't be asking about my husband. it wasn't her fault and wasn't the student's fault. >> the translator's fault. >> i can't believe she would think a french student would be so rude. >> that's great. >> just kidding. bob, you crash me up. you take off on your tropical -- what is that one? >> tropical depression number two. it just formed about an hour ago a couple hours ago we got new

details. off the coast of africa moving towards the west, td number 2, highlighted with a circle. aways away from land. if it does become a tropical storm, it will be ann. that could happen either today or tomorrow. something we have to watch. the path of this thing will take due west and towards the west/northwest in the next couple of days, see the computer models and national hurricane center is thinking it will strengthen into a tropical storm sometime today or tomorrow. be following this the next week or so. as for rain showers across the northeast, it is out there. look at nancy pelosi, stretching towards lower parts of maine. more action towards boston. you get to the west farther, another round of thunderstorms towards western and western new york state. and the picture picking it up fairly well, all moving towards the east and more showers developing today and it will be a hot one for you in nyc, all

five boroughs near 95 degrees. add humidity, it will feel 95 degrees. temperatures out there, 92-95, heat advisory for all new york city. one hot day, just like yesterday. rain off the coast of florida, no big deal but showers and thunderstorms could grow in intensity later this afternoon around that cold front. western tennessee could get under the gun. live to memphis. 75 degrees, humidity is out there. look at the haze and low clouds. it will see temperatures at 90 with thunderstorms and good aerial coverage later this afternoon. i think gusty winds and large hail could be a factor in the lower mississippi valley. >> we have a new facebook page and some people are making comments about the hillary clinton tape on the show. if you look at hillary clinton's body language before the question was asked, you can see she was just waiting for the moment to snap. we've all had those days.

>> she's been on a worhirlwind tour, sure she's tired. >> if you want to see our facebofac facebook page -- >> not the fake one. the real one, like this. >> that's it! >> that's the real one. >> people are claiming to see fake images on toast, chips, chit toes, now kudzu. people see the figure of jesus with outstretched arms growing over a power pole and power line. i guess people just look for this anywhere. i'm just saying. why does it always have to be this figure of jesus? couldn't it be anybody? >> looks like batman when he spreads out the wings. u.s. banks are making billions of dollars in pure profit.

if you're not careful, it could be coming out of your pocket.

take another sip of your coffee and check out the morning paper. the white house is objecting to a poster put up by a non-profit group about school lunches. it says, president obama's children get good school lunch, why don't i? overcro overcrowdi overcrowding creating a dangerous situation in a crowded chino prison. a riot erupted there injuring 75 people. chicago gets a new area

code, 872. experts say the united states will run out of three digit area codes by the year 2039 and we'll start with four digit ones! weird. u.s. banks are making billions of dollars in extra cash this year. they have you to thank for it. we're not talking about just the bailout. jennifer westhoven or t.a.r.p. fund. we're talking about your dough. >> when you get hit with fees, it's aggravating. sometimes you don't know you went over. wished they let you know. banks know they hit the mother lode. they stand to make a record 38 $1/2 billion in overdraft fee this year and 90% coming from 10% of the customers, those with lowest credit scores, those who can least afford to pay for it. it's coming from moebs research.

it says it's from the biggest banks tend to charge the most. ci citibank, bank of america, wells fargo. they say we're taking a big risk by letting you go over your credit and have to make up for that by charging this money. you know people don't want to pay for something if they can get it for free? as it turns out, that is hurting the porn industry. the movie makers, actress, models, they're all making a lot less money because people who want pornography can get plenty of it for free on the internet. industry insiders say porn revenue dropped 30 to 50% just since 2007. what a shame. you can get a lot of news for free on the web. apparently, you can get that for free, too. >> here you thought it was recession proof. thank you. new trials for a 69 vaccine are going on across the country

and we'll hear from one man who said, yeah, he signed up. >> it was pretty gross. the kids thought it was pretty funny. absolutely, wild, crazy. >> a town has found a new energy source and it comes straight from people's bathrooms!

people are lining up for experimental swine flu vaccines. government funded tests on h1n1 vaccines are happening in eight cities and they're working on volunteers and they don't know whether they're getting h1n1 vaccine or regular flu vaccine or placebo. >> i've always been a big believer in vaccines. i think it's pretty safe. it's a great benefit to, you know, people to be able to prevent this -- various illnesses. >> volunteers across the united states will get different combos of two h1n1 vaccines. health officials expect to have 60 million doses of the vaccine

available this fall. a town has found a way to make power out of a water that goes down people's drains, put it that way. in mesa, arizona a treatment plant has been making heat and power from waste water. >> it's an involved process. with the energy costs the way they're going, it's the wave of the future. it's got go somewhere, you might as well break it down and use it ben officially. >> town officials say they will save $90,000 a year by using the new plant. how much did the plant cost? the helicopter-plane collision in new york saturday was particularly disturbing to olympic swim mer dara torres. what's the explanation there. >> she said she flew with the same pilot on that same helicopter just two days before the fatal crash. she told the associated press her 3-year-old daughter met her in new york and really wanted to

go on a helicopter ride on thursday. saturday, the crash happened, leaving the pilot and eight others dead. she said she saw a newspaper photo of the pilot and checked her own photos and saw it was the same guy and got chills and added, it just wasn't my time yet. >> white sox manager ozzie guillen has warning, if you hit one of our players, we'll hit two of yours after two of his players were hit by pitches sunday. he knows he will get suspended after they hit another player. he said he'd rather be suspended than have his players get hurt. the michael jordan of formula 1 racing is not pulling a brett farve. michael schumaker says he will not step in for someone who was hurt because he says he himself is still hurt from a motorcycle accident earlier in the year.

you will enjoy this, bob. the 35th world cocktail championships from germany. reminds me of the classic tom cruise movie "cocktail" competitors from 52 countries. two categories, classic and flair and the finals are today. >> a guy who looks like the pirates of the caribbean. >> he did, didn't he? country star brooks and dunn are calling it quits after nearly 20 years as a you due wo? ♪ yeah, these two. in a statement on their website, kit brooks and ronnie dunn says it will be their good-bye to their fan. the split was a mutual decision. they had 20 hits since their 1991 debut "brand-new man."

so what's behind that? i guess they decided it was time. 40 minutes past the hour. >> were you familiar with them i'm thinking you were. >> very much so. you? >> no. but the gals in the video were very lovely. >> that can make you turn country right there. >> yeah. let me show you what's happening right now. one short delay out of charlotte because of runway construction, 23 minute delays because of departures only and will not @x last that long. not that bad. look at the eastside, a lot of humidity in place, hot, humid. if you're traveling in new york city today, thunderstorms will pop this afternoon. 92-95, the high. boston, new york, philly, atlanta, cleveland, st. louis, the only towns with showers around, at least major ones and will see delays shorter than an hour today. san francisco, no fog delays this morning a decent day to travel. pretty good. more in a half hour. do you know where your

credit score is? before you rush off to buy what you think is your real credit score, know one of the most difficult and confusing things for a consumer is now that we know more and more about credit reports is trying to decipher credit scores. because you heard me say scores, plural, because you would think you only have a single score. and, in fact, the credit bureaus all sing about how you can buy your score from them. but do you know that only one of the three major credit bureaus sells you a real score? that's equifax. equifax sells you the fico score. that's the one that lenders actually use. but transunion and experian, they'll sell you their own made-up scores that nobody uses to make loans. so let me tell you something. when you are going to spend money to buy your score, buy the real thing at myfico.com or at

equifax.com. otherwise, get a free score that will give you an estimate at quizzle.com. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to be smart with your wallet, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach to you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. so catch him at noon eastern on saturdays and sundays right here on hln. california senate leader is suing governor arnold schwarzenegger. he says schwarzenegger overstepped his authority when he used his line item veto to cut almost half a billion dollars from the state budget. the senate leader said lawmakers needed to okay those cuts. they already agreed on $24 billion in other cuts. schwarzenegger's spokesperson says the vetoes were legal and financially necessary. breaking news today. eunice kennedy shriver has passed away at the age of 88. she started a summer day camp in

her backyard. a look back at how the sister of a president made an impact all her own. @@pn0o0o0opg

good morning! how are you? it is tuesday. very early at 8:00. and i'm robin meade. just glad to have you with us today. here's what's going on. president john f. kennedy's sister, eunice kennedy shriver has passed away. her son-in-law, governor arnold schwarzenegger is talking about the difference she made in his life. president obama is going face-to-face with those upset over his health care reform plan. he's about to tell some folks why he thinks they should support him. plus, how long do you have to sit on an airplane tarmac before you start getting antsy? some people were stuck there all night! those stories in a moment. first, though, back to our

breaking news that eunice kennedy shriver has died this morning. california governor arnold schwarzenegger says that his mother-in-law changed his life, and put him on a path to service. shriver was the sister of president john f. kennedy. she also founded the special olympics. her family, including her daughter, maria shriver, were by her side at a massachusetts hospital. she was 88 years old. president obama is facing the public outrage over health care reform head-on. he is holding a town hall meeting in new hampshire this afternoon. the president is trying to shift his message to explain how the reform would effect people who already have insurance, but also preparing for the kind of arguments that new jersey congressman steve rothman heard the at his town hall yesterday. >> it's my opinion that we have the best health care in the world. people from canada and europe come here for life-saving, procedures. where are we going to go if this health care gets passed? and you know this president only --

>> well, many lawmakers have stepped up security at their town hall meetings to keep the crowds in check. one north carolina congressman cancelled his forum after getting a death threat. some other dems have opted for teleconferences, instead. we're getting reaction now from people who watched as a roller coaster stranded people 80 feet above the ground. can you imagine? it happened on the invertgo in santa clara, california. now, the coaster stalled nearby its highest point yesterday. fire officials say all 24 people were hanging up right from the coaster. one witness came close to being with them. >> we let people cut in front of us, so we were like thinking like that could have been us. and stuff. s so, yeah. it was pretty scary. >> a little bit disappointing, and mechanical failure gives a little bit of -- i'm skeptical how often should they be going, you know, during this. and i would like to know what is the thing that caused the failure. >> yeah.

well, crews brought everyone down in buckets one at a time. it was 90 degrees outside, so not exactly comfortable. a spokesman for the park says safety is their number-one priority and they called for help immediately. michael jackson's autopsy is done. but we still don't know what's in the report. the l.a. coroner's office says the police asked them not to release the singer's cause of death until they decide whether to file any criminal charges. a source told our sister network, cnn, that jackson's doctor, conrad murray gave him the powerful sedative propofol 24 hours before he died. talk about last in translation. the secretary of state hillary clinton appeared to get angry during a q and a session with congalese university students. reporters in the room say a student speaking in french asked what president obama would think about chinese financial contracts with congresso. but the translator apparently made a mistake and asked secretary clinton what mr. clinton would think!

>> you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i am. so you askeded my opinion, i will tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channelling my husband. >> wow. state department officials say that secretary clinton spoke with a student afterward, and they, quote, seemed to have reached an understanding. you can see how things get lost in translation. you know what, too? we're getting a lot of response from our facebook page on that story, as well. if you want to go there, i'll try to find some of those and read those out loud. there is one body that still has not been found from a plane chopper collision over the hudson river. police say that divers found the eighth victim's body yesterday in the plane's wreckage submerged in the river. but it wasn't possible to remove it right away. crews will try to lift the plane from the water today. here is a 911 call that someone made right after the saturday's crash.

investigators are still trying to reconstruct what exactly happened. nine people were killed when the plane and a chopper collided in mid air. five minutes after the hour. okay. so who has got the rainy start to your atday? i hope it improves. meteorologist bob van dillen, what say you? >> we're watching a line of thunderstorms on the weak side, but moving across northern parts of extreme northern massachusetts in towards lower massachusetts or lower new hampshire in towards maine. one thunderstorm complex. it's rolling off shore. later today, more of that action is going to reemerge with the daytime heating. toward the west, you have a couple showers developing right now that came off lake erie, and some of those dropped a lot of rain, most notably across new

york, buffalo. flash flood warnings, the light shaded green areas around jamestown stretching to buffalo, too. we have had heavy rain the last couple days, as well. let me show you video from the same region. silver creek. this is outside of buffalo. this was on sunday night through monday. they had tremendous amounts of rainfall at just about an hour or two, and you see some flooding there. this is western new york state on sunday night through monday morning and more rain this morning and more rain for the afternoon. so you're not done with it, by any stretch. all right. get away from that region toward new york city. if you're traveling here, all five burrows under a heat advisory today. texas going to feel like 92 to 95 after a real cool july, starting to feel like summertime again. so august. yeah, you're finally hitting the upper 90s is what it's going to feel like. tampa, dry, more showers and thunderstorms developing. here is your cold front, though. we're talking about severe weather for the afternoon. that's going to be right around memphis toward oklahoma city, and the heat index of 105 to 110. you find that across the texas

gulf coast to houston. more on that i think so robin, in about a half hour. okay. it is time right now to salute the troops. bob, thank you. our salute today is to sergeant zack milldafrom his wife. he's not due back until spring. but she and their 1-month-old son couldn't wait until he gets there. >> good morning, i'm saluting my husband zack in afghanistan. i want to tell him how very proud i am of him. i think it takes an unbelievable amount of courage and definitely sacrifice on his part to fight for our country. i can't wait for him to come home and meet our adorable son. don't worry, baby, adam is still staying awake all night, so he'll be on your time zone when you come home. i love you and miss you. >> i love how she says the baby is on his time zone. do you have somebody in the service? go to cnn.com/robin, so we can salute hem for you. crying babies, overflowing toilets. why people were forced to spend the night on a plane right there on the tarmac!

they were this close to the airport. and a terrifying crash in nascar. rafer has more in what happened. >> good morning, robin. take a look at this. a mess. a massive wreck at a nascar track in new york, and someone still walked away a winner in yesterday's race.

♪ the pentagon won't be forced to buy four new jets. house leaders dropped plans to add $330 million to the air force's budget, eastbound though the pentagon didn't ask for. defense secretary robert gates said there are ways to money. john mer that had said they're

needed because the older ones have expensive maintain absence issues. the taliban is denying that its leader in pakistan was killed in a u.s. missile strike. a taliban spokesperson says that he is ill, but alive and safe. he also says that he will speak to reporters when he gets better. a senior u.s. official said yesterday that the government is convinced that he was killed in a cia strike last week. pakistan is conducting a dna test to confirm that. you don't need me to tell you that a lot of people are losing jobs, but it turns out many are finding new ones fairly quickly. and our money expert, jennifer westhoven says that is good news in a bad economy, all things considered here. >> yeah. and i know this isn't the most official survey we look at, but it's still got good news in it, and i think anybody who is really looking hard for work right now, you'll take what you can get. what the survey found, as of june, they talked to laid off

people, 48% of the people who lost their jobs three months before, they had found new full-time jobs, almost half of them. and the rate of people finding new jobs was better. it was higher than just three months ago when they did the same survey. and out of those who found jobs, a majority of them got the same or better pay. the survey was paid for by careerbuilder, a job-hunting website. i do want to round it out with some of the more official numbers that have come out. the labor department has said that the average job hunt right now lasts for six months. so if you don't get one in a little while, keep going. the average hunt, six months out there. right now, gm's ceo fritz henderson is holding a news conference. these live pictures you see are from detroit where they are formally cutting the rib on , shall we say, looking to make up some of the lost market share. talked yesterday about how some gm dealers in california for one month, this is a trial, are going to be offering new gm cars

for sale on the ebay website, and the idea is that you could get all of the discounts that you could get from going in and haggling without actually having to do that, having to go in and haggel and know all of the skills. you can try it out on ebay, very interesting. >> this is from the dealers, right, so you would go and pick up your car locally? >> yeah, that's right. so you could order it online, see all of details would you know about at the dealer, do a test drive at the dealer, too. but the buying of it, you figure out the price on ebay and then pick it up at the local dealer. we'll see if it catches on. a big question, right? is the government stimulus spending working? well, with some of those new -- like the jobs report we had on friday that wasn't so bad, some people are starting to weigh in. paul krugman is arguing, yes, he believes that big government helped the world avoid a second great depression. in a "new york times" piece, he argued the economy has taken a few steps back from athe business, is how he put it, and

he said without the massive stimulus plan, another million americans would be out of work, on top of what we have now. now, he wanted heed to be clear, the economic situation remains terrible, and will take two or more years to recover. and this is just one side of the story, robin. for all of the people who think the government is overspending, but we are starting to see different arguments out there, some people saying, hey, maybe it worked, maybe tim geithner, and ben bernanke, maybe they were right. >> it's hard to prove something that you can only speculate about had it would have happened had they not had the bailouts. >> exactly. >> thank you. we won't be hearing about michael jackson's autopsy results for a while. but we have learned that concert footage from his final days could be coming to a theater near you. and. >> sounds pretty gross. the kids thought it was funny. >> i think it's absolutely wild, crazy. >> yeah, a town has found a new energy source. how people -- well, we will say bathrooms are making power.

can you imagine being forced to spend the night on a plane? a grounded one, okay? some people who had to do that had to endure stopped-up

toilets, crying babies, no food, they say. friday's flight from houston to minneapolis was diverted to rochester, minnesota, because of bad weather. so it finally landed around midnight, but the 47 passengers were not allowed to get off until 6:00 a.m. saturday morning! last hour, one passenger told our sister network, cnn that the ordeal got progressively worse. >> i think each hour, the bathroom odors got worse, the odors of the baby got worse, the air got staler. i think people got more tired. i think people were very hungry, no food whatsoever. and i had made a connecting flight, for example, and had had not eaten for 15 hours. so i think the combination of thirsts and hunger and not able to sleep because the babies were crying, i just think there was a deterioration that took place throughout the flight in terms of people's emotional stability. >> i bet so! well, continental airlines is

apologizing and offering refunds to the passengers. express jet, which ran the flight, says the passengers couldn't get off because security screeners at the airport had gone off duty. but the airport says they could have stayed in the terminal, but the airline refused. so a little back and forth there. but can you imagine? people have been commenting about this story on our facebook page and you are welcome to, as well. cecil says i have never had a problem. after 144 flights last year, i don't think i would have survived that ordeal, and add if he ever found out who made the decision to keep the people trapped for so long, there would be heck to pay. go to cnn.com/robin and it will rink you right to the facebook page, okay? still reeling from the fatal shooting of their coach, a high school football team is taking its first steps to try to move forward. has got to be a tough time for them, because it's time for practices and they would normally be with him a lot. >> right. and it's a really special time

for these players. and robin, this guy has been at the helm for over 30 years. now, you the viewer, you might remember this story. an iowa high school coach, ed thomas, gunned down at school. well, monday the team held its first practice of the year. his two assistant coaches are now the co-head coaches, they say they will try to keep things as routine as possible. they are starting practice the same time and the same way as they did under thomas, and the team is going to play its first game of the season on national tv on august 28th. oh, my goodness. check out this horrible crash at nascar. this was at watkins glen in new york. now, the only man hurt was jeff gordon. he is an extremely popular driver, and he only hurt his back. says he's going to be okay. but otherwise everybody walked away from this crash. there is -- yeah, sam horness jr., right there, first bounces off of the tire barrier and then goes back on to the track, and

you can see gordon slam right into him. that's from a reverse angle. here is the other angle right here. and in the end, wow. tony stuaewart won a record fif time. and something out of a disney movie, and it was right near anaheim, coincidentally. have lad, hit me one out of the park it's my birthday. so he hits a home run in the second inning, awfully nice. but then he would hit another one in the 7th inning, and this would be the eventual game winner, and his 400th home run of his career. and the kid also got some other swag, i'm told, from the team. and lastly, time for some wackiness. ostrich races, perhaps. did you know ostriches could go that fast? >> i see them kicking their people off. >> yeah, this guy managed to hang on. good ostrich, good ostrich. this is part of extreme race day in minnesota. they also had camel races, and i

know the folks at peta are not going to be happy to hear, this but i've had ostrich. it is delicious. that is a look at sports. i'm just saying, it's good. just putting it out there. >> thank you. he's a corn carnivore. of. >> looked like a just. >> yes, it did. >> this is a video game. this is what it looks across the region if you're traveling. no delays over a half hour right now, but i think that's going to change. we'll get some delays popping up because of showers and thunderstorms. here's the way they shape up for the afternoon. again, it's going to be hot across boston and new york, philly and atlanta. pop-up thunderstorms are a possibility, 30 minutes to an hour. cleveland and st. louis, 30 minutes to an hour, as well. rob, more weather in just about 15 minutes. >> listen, the superstar country duo, brooks and dunn are d-o-n-e, done. ♪ well, apparently they're not going to be playing country or flig else together anymore. why the guys are calling it quits.

and a 4-year-old didn't flinch when he realized grandpa needed help fast.

president obama says that eunice kennedy shriver was an extraordinary woman. she died this morning at the age of 88. she was the sister of president john f. kennedy, and founded the special olympics. her family, including daughter maria shriver, were by her side at a massachusetts hospital. we're going to have to wait even longer to find out what killed michael jackson. the l.a. coroner's office said the autopsy is done, but police asked them not to release a cause of death because of their ongoing investigation. an opposition leader will be confined to her home for another year-and-a-half. a myanmar court found her guilty for violating her house arrest today. initially the court sentenced

her to prison after an american swam two miles to get to her house. those are just a few of the stories we're working on. i think a few will leave you talking today. i'm robin meade, good morning, by the way. nearly 2,000 people are going to pack a high school gym today to ask the president about health care reform. the town hall meeting in new hampshire is part of the administration's effort to reshape the debate about a public insurance option. they're also taking a cue from lawmakers like missouri senator claire mccaskill who have added more security to keep the crowds under control. >> this is more about taking power and control than it is about health care. because health care is only the first -- >> yeah! >> it's only the first step to socialism. >> i think it was a huge mistake for anyone to suggest that anybody who is opposed to the health care plan is manufactured. i -- it's not manufactured now. i think both sides are

organizing, but that's what we do in a democracy. >> the white house says that many people are getting bad info about the proposed health care overhaul. so it launched a new web page to dispel those rumors. we posted a link at cnn.com/robin. people forced to spend the night on a grounded plane, just think about it, they had to endure stopped-up toilet, crying, upset babies. no food. people getting crankier by the minute. friday's flight from houston to minneapolis was diverted to rochester, minnesota, because of bad weather. it landed around midnight, but the passengers couldn't get off until 6:00 a.m. saturday. last night our sister network was told that continental airlines is responsible. >> we're in a little tiny airplane all night, and they need to get us off the airplane. there is a terminal 50 yards away. when we went into the terminal at 7:00 in the morning, and spent another three hours, we never went through security. we sat in the terminal.

it's after security. we spent three hours, we got back on the plane. security was not involved at that point, and should never have had to be involved. >> well, express jet, which ran the flight, says that passengers couldn't get off because of security screeners at the airport had gone off duty. continental airlines is apologizing, though, and offering refunds and vouchers to its passengers. you've got a comment to make? i know a lot of people have been making comments about that story on our facebook page. you can get there, go to cnn.com/robin. there's a little link. all right. two powerful earthquakes hit ten minutes apart in asia earlier today. in tokyo, at least one person was killed by falling debris. and more than 60 people were injured. the first earthquake was a magnitude 7.6 in the indian ocean near india's andaman islands. the second was a 6.5 everything quake in tokyo. a new coffee shop in denver

is doing things differently, giving coffee away. the store has been giving cups of java for free after sandwiches started turning a profit. all they ask is you pay it forward. >> call it karma, call it the golden rule, call it whatever you want to believe. we just believe that it comes back around, and we're willing to take the risk to give you something for free. >> i just like the impact it has on my financial situation. >> well, one customer paid it forward by giving their neighbor a washer and dryer! a cup of coffee turned into a washer and dryer. >> i love it. that's what we need is more free coffee around here. >> 34 minutes past the hour. i think he is caffeinated enough, how about you? what, i don't know what you're talking about. >> what, what, what? what's up, rob? we had our second tropical depression in the atlantic, away from any land mass. here is the continental u.s.

and here is the clouds coming in off the coast of africa. it becomes a tropical storm, its name would be ann. it would be the first tropical storm even though it's a second tropical depression. to the west-northwest, the national hurricane center does believe it will become a tropical storm within the next 48 hours so something we're watching. another thing, felicia by hawaii. this thing is dying down pretty quickly, which is great news. we're expecting to see this move on ashore probably later today or late tonight for you. hawaiian time, it's only going to be a tropical depression. but the main story is going to be the big large waves they have, the swell already out there. and heavy downpours are a possibility still. but the wind should not be a factor. only 40 miles an hour sustained winds now, really coming in gusts, too. as for the rest of the continental u.s., look at the showers around western new york, the flash flood warning out of this because of the rain that pulled through. that includes buffalo, and the heat will be out there for you. areas nornd new york city today, 92 to 95. going to be hot. showers and thunderstorms developing around florida later

today, but the threat of severe weather, the real threat, will be around this cold front. that's going to drive down toward western tennessee later c this afternoon. memphis, even nashville in the line of this. let me take you live to nashville. here's what it looks like there, starting out on a warm note, 75. look at the clouds out there. puffy clouds already, indication of low-level humidity. that's going to build this afternoon. your temperature, high of 89 degrees. so that is a pretty shot of nashville. look at that. >> that is gorgeous! >> pretty good. we also had severe weather just the other day. let me show you stuff coming out of iowa. this is right around the center part of that state, golf ball-size hail. look at this region there, that is a greenhouse, or at least it was. this was on sunday night through monday morning. you can see what it did right here. also, damaged soy crops and also shredded corn a couple weeks before they were going to be reepds. so unfortunately for them, they had that plus the car damage also. that was in iowa. all right. check out our i-report of the day. wendy found this squirrel that

seemed tired of the hot weather in naperville, illinois. this was on sunday, and wendy says it felt like 100 gles so the squirrel says you know what, whatever, i'm going to relax. lucky for you, you weren't at robin meade's cousin's house. >> because that's good eatin right there in our family. >> and easy to catch. there you go. that's our i-report of the day. send them to cnn.com/robin and click on the i-report logo. pretty easy. >> the poor squirrel. >> i don't mean to make fun. just saying that eating squirrel, maybe 10% of the people in the u.s. -- just saying, you plib -- >> i'm telling you, until i was 18, i thought everybody was raised eating squirrel. >> i am just saying you might be in the minority, not saying it's wrong, just might be in the minority. >> a little gamey. a baby elephant wound up in a situation it will never forgot, the poor thing got trapped in a hole, and you can get getting an elephant out was not easy. awww.

good morning, you lay back, take another sip of your coffee. check out the morning papers for you, don't burn yourself. the white house is objecting to a poster put up by a nonprofit group that wants more nutritious school lunches. the poster asks, president obama's daughters get healthy lunches, why don't i? but the group says it will not take the posters down. two years ago experts warned that overcrowding created a dangerous situation at a prison in cheeno. over the weekend, a riot injured 175 people. from the "chicago tribune," chicago is getting a new area code this fall. 872. now, experts say that the u.s. will run out of three-digit area codes by the year 2039. and we're going to start getting

four-digit ones! that will be weird. a baby elephant got itself in some big-time trouble. it got stuck in a manhole in thailand while its handlers were taking it to work. rescuers used a mechanical digger to get the elephant out. the poor thing. it took about three hours. believe it or not, the elephant was not injured. if you want the united states to break its addiction to oil and gas, or if you're just sick of paying for gas, listen! money expert jennifer westhoven has some new options for you. like what? >> well, it's the -- i know you are highly interested in these electric car stories. so we have two coming up. to nissan unveiled the leaf, its first all-electric car. it unveiled it in tokyo, and we know the "wall street journal" and "ap" were there, and they hope it will be a mainstream seller, and we know it's scheduled to go on sale next year.

the u.s., japan and europe, and supposedly seats five people, according to some of the reports out there. for now, it can only go short distances. so 100 miles on a single charge. and takes eight hours to recharge at home. so according to some of the early reports, how it looks, it's probably the kind of thing where you could take it to work and back, maybe run a fewer rapids and charge it overnight. not exactly ready for long tripgs yet. but nissan has long said that it wants the leaf to be, quote, affordable. it's not just going to be an eco car, but a mainstream car. meanwhile, general motors has been working on its own version of electric car, the volt. but minutes ago at that news conference, look at that. gm said the volt is going to get 230 -- >> god! >> miles a gallon. >> come on! >> well, remember, too, it's not really -- it's not really 230 miles a gallon, it's the equivalent of that, because it doesn't run on gasoline. doesn't use gallons, it runs on some gas, but also electricity. but it has been working with the epa so you could get some sense

of how much, you know, you would be -- how much gas you would be driving on a regular car compared to how little you would be burning in gas if you're driving this. >> can i ask a silly question here? >> i don't know if i can answer it, but you can ask. >> when you buy an electric car, it's not like you can run an extension cord to the garage, it's not a regular plun-in. you've got to have some kind of hook up, don't you? >> that's what we have to find out, and the batteries are like $10,000, the whole cost of the car. so they're kind of trying to find out ways maybe they can lease the battery to you or if it breaks, can they swap them out. maybe you don't own the battery. >> do they come and install some electric hook-up if you need it? >> yeah, because that's the real technology point and it's not like you can pull up to a gas station and you can plug in for a while. >> although they would charge for it. if you thank you. cops are looking for a suspect on a brazen bank robbery. how the situation could have been even worse!

♪ quarter to hour. president obama says that overhauling the immigration

system will have to wait until next year. he wrapped up a summit with the leaders of mexico and canada yesterday. they focused on the need to work together. president obama says that he's committed to fixing the immigration system. >> we have a broken immigration system. nobody denies it. and if we continue on the path we're on, we will continue to have tensions with our mexican neighbors. we will continue to have people crossing the borders in a way that is dangerous for them, unfair for those who are applying legally to immigrate. >> the leaders also pledged to work together on the expected spread of the h1n1 flu virus and the battle against drug cartels. a fellow republican wants to impeach south carolina governor mark sanford over plane tickets! the same state senator called for sanford to resign after he admitted having an affair. well now david thomas accuses sanford of breaking state rules by spending thousands on

first-class flights to london and china for business. well, the governor's spokesperson says the senator's accusations are wrong. >> police in michigan are looking for a man accused of holding a gun to a woman's head during a bank robbery. surveillance pictures show the fan pointing a gun at the teller. police say he demanded money and threatened to take a customer hostage. the woman was able to get away, but the suspect did take some money. you know the helicopter slash plane collision that happened over weekend in new york city, it was particularly disturbing to olympic swimmer dara torres and here is rafer to connect the dots here. >> yeah. she says that she flew with the same helicopter pilot from the same company of that helicopter just two days before the fatal crash. she told the "associated press" that her 3-year-old daughter met her in new york and really wanted to go on a helicopter ride, which they did on thursday. well saturday, as you may

remember, the crash happened, that left the pilot and eight others dead. torres says she saw a newspaper photo of the pilot, and then she went and checked her own photos, and, quote, got chills and added, quote, it just wasn't my time yet. and tiger woods is going to be a little lighter in the pocketbook. "ap" reports woods will be fined by the pga for criticizing officials. tiger is upset after he and p pad padre herrington were put on the clock, and woods fell away. and he says officials ruined a great battle. pga, don't mess with tiger. leave the guy alone. white sox manager has got a warning, if you hit our players, we're going to hit two of yours. ozzy went on one of his classic tirades after three sox players were hit by pitches sunday against the indians. and he says, look, i would rather be suspended than having one of my guys get hurt. and he probably will be suspended if he does follow

through with it. and lastly, how about a little wackiness? it is the 35th world cocktail championships from germany. 800 competitors doing their best tom cruise and "cocktail" impression, terrible movie, by the way. jack spar owe there from the pirates of the caribbean. i would be like, dude, just serve me the drink! >> and you know practicing this, how messy would that get? >> that's sports. >> thank you. what's your credit score? do you know? before you rush off to buy what you think is your real credit score, hear what hln money expert clark howard has to say about the credit report that you really need. >> you know one of the most difficult and confusing things for a consumer is now that we know more and more about credit reports, is trying to decipher credit scores. because you heard me say scores plural. because you would think you only have a single score. and, in fact, the credit bureaus

all sing about how you can buy your score from them. but do you know that only one of the three major credit bureaus sells you a real score? that's equifax. equifax sells you the fico score. that's the one that lenders actually use. but transunion and experian, they'll sell you their own made-up scores that nobody uses to make loans. so let me tell you something. when you are going to spend money to buy your score, buy the real thing at myfico.com, or at equif equifax.com. otherwise, get a free score that will give you an estimate at quizzle.com. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to be smart with your wallet, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less, and ooh void getting ripped off. so that's why you need to watch him on the weekends at noon on hln. if you thought that you had seen it all, after watching

this, maybe you will have. it's former illinois governor rod blagojevich as an elvis impersonator. ♪ all right, all right, all right. enough of that. he sang elvis presley's "treat me nice." it was a block party in chicago, and he jumped up on stage. he has also launched a new website where you can book him for speaking engagements. singing? i'm not so sure. i mean, that's like your -- that's your former governor of illinois jumping up on the stage. all right people claim they have seen religious images on toast, potato chips, ovens.

now kudzu, so fox in raleigh, north carolina say they see the figure of jesus with outstretched arms in this overgrowth overlooking some train tracks. what do you see? hundreds of people could be buried alive after a typhoon.

good morning, sunshine! i'm so glad you're part of our morning family. have i told you that lately? i'm robin meade. here's what's going on today. it's president obama's turn now to hear what the public thinks about health care reform. and he's planning to reshape his message at a town hall meeting? just a few hours. one of nascar's most popular drivers was at the center of a horrifying crash. you got to say the tape of it happening and how he made it out without a scratch. plus sorry may not can you it for the dozens of airline passengers left on the tarmac overnight with no food or water. you're going to hear how one of them explain how it just kept getting worse and worse. the stories in a moment.

but first, breaking nice, eunice kennedy shriver died this morning at the age of 88. much california governor arnold schwarzenegger says, quote, my moibl changed my life by raising such a fantastic daughter and by putting me on the path to service. shriver was the sister of president john f. kennedy. she also founded the special olympics. her family, including daughter, maria shriver, were by her side at a hospital in massachusetts. president obama is facing the public outrage over public health care reform head-on, holding a town hall meeting this afternoon. the president is trying to shift his message to explain how the reform would effect people who already have insurance, but also preparing for arguments that new jersey congressman steve rothman heard at his town hall yesterday. >> it's my opinion that we have the best health care in the world. people from canada and europe come here for life-saving procedures. where are we going to go if this

health care gets cast -- and you know this president only -- >> yeah! >> well, many lawmakers have stepped up security at their town hall meetings to keep crowds in check. one north carolina congressman cancelled his forum after getting a death threat. some other dems have opted for teleconferences instead. we're hearing more this morning about what 47 people wept through after they were stuck on a grounded plane all night. right there at the tarmac. like this far, you know, from the terminal. they were there all night. friday night's flight from houston to minneapolis was diverted to rochester, minnesota, because of bad weather. it landed around midnight, but the passengers were not allowed to get off until 6:00 a.m. saturday morning. one passenger told our sister network, cnn, the ordeal got progressively worse. >> each hour, the bathroom odors got worse, the odors of the babies got worse. the air got staler. i think people got more tired. i think people were very hungry. they had no food whatsoever. and i had made a connecting

flight, for example, and had not eaten for 15 hours. so i think the combination of thirst and hunger and not able to sleep because the babies were crying, i just think there was a deterioration that took place throughout the flight in terms of people's emotional stability. >> you could imagine, right? well, continental airlines is apologizing, and offering refunds to the passengers. express jet, which actually ran the flight, says the passengers couldn't get off abuse security screeners in the airport had gone off duty. the airport says they could have stayed in the terminal, but the airline refused. oh, you want to talk about a story that has people commenting on our facebook page this morning? yeah. here's an example from rinada. would the airline be liable for passengers with illnesses or disabilities that would have placed them in jeopardy? i guess passengers should not only pack their clothes when traveling, but take extra food medications and trash bags with them on the plane. go to cnn.com/robin. that's where we have a connection to our facebook link.

and you can write away, and tell us what you think. that was one of many. what a head-turner of a crash in nascar. it is amazing, isn't it, that everyone walked away from that crash. rafer is going to tell you who was involved here. good morning. >> good morning, robin. and every time i see this video, it just shakes me the same time over and over again. this was at a track, watkins glen in new york, which is known for its crashes. that guy, sam horness jr. and jeff gordon, the two guys who got the worst of it, yes, they were able to walk away. amazingly, gordon, an extremely popular driver said he just had a hurt back and you can understand why. watch what happens as horness is cut off, goes back on the track, and gordon slams into him. all n all, six cars involved. stewart would rain the race for a record fifth time. more on sports in a bit. >> the torque objen number 77'sr

when it was turning around would make your head spin. secretary of state hillary clinton appeared to get angry during a q and a session with con congales he have university students. she was asked about what president obama would think about chinese financial contracts. but apparently the translator made a mistake and asked secretary of state clinton what mr. clinton would think! >> you want know tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i am. so you ask my opinion, i will tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channelling my husband. >> i think i heard the crowd go ooh. state department officials say secretary clinton spoke with the student afterward and they seem to have, quote, reached an understanding. this is another story people are making comments on on our facebook page. i'll read those.

look at what a hail storm did in iowa. it closed a state park to close so officials could clean up debris. 11 people suffered minor injuries. buildings and cars were no match for this kind of severe weather. >> it was supposed to last 25 years and supposed to take some pretty extreme hail and it was no match for the hail we got yesterday, especially as it came down. >> knocked out sun roofs and glass, and you can see the van is pummeled. all of the cars look like that. >> what are you going to do with those cars now? wow. six minutes after the hour. for those of you, gosh, what would time be in hawaii now? >> 3:00 a.m. >> what are you doing awake? you might be watching tropical storm alicia. >> and it is falling apart. at one point had 140 miles an hour winds and now it's down to 40 miles an hour winds and that may even be aggressive. you can see the satellite presentation kind of weak, but moving towards the west. and it's going west about 12 miles per hour, so it should

pass over the island chain of hawaii sometime today. and i think the main threat is going to be the heavy rain. so you're going to be watching that. what they do have that's actually beneficial is the surf. let me show you some video coming out of oahu. it bumped up and started something fierce yesterday. still going on today. surfers are loving it, getting bounced around. you can see it's head height. it's only going to grow. i think today will peak with your waves and going to last through basically the end of the week. so enjoy that. back to the continental u.s. hot if you travel to the big apple today, all five burrows under a heat advisory, going to feel like 92 or 95, something they haven't experienced all of july. showers off the coast in the atlantic around florida. severe thunderstorms possible mainly around the cold frontal boundary. same as yesterday. here comes the cold front slicing to the south, gives you that extra kick in the atmosphere. severe thunderstorms possible.

but below the cold front, still scorching hot, smoking hot toward houston, going to feel like 110 today with the heat index. more, robin, in a half hour. >> bob, thank you. wow, that's hot. talking about the map. >> yeah, it's like -- come on, we're like an old married couple. we have been waiting for weeks to find out what exactly caused michael jackson's death. well now the coroner knows answer, but he's not telling? plus some good news in a bad economy. we're hearing laid off workers are having more luck finding another job. 17ss8[

he and thir 1-month old son cab wait until they get home. >> good morning, i'm salute being my husband zack in

afghanistan. i want to tell him how very proud i am of him. i think it takes an unbelievable amount of courage and sacrifice on his part to fight for our country. i can't wait for him to come home and meet our adorable son. don't worry, baby. adam is still staying awake all night, so he will be on your time zone. i love you and miss you. >> isn't that cute what she said about the baby? staying up all night, being on a time zone. if you have somebody in the service, go to cnn.com/robin and we can salute them. michael jack soon's autopsy is done, but we still didn't know what's in the report. the l.a. coroner's office says the police asked them not to release the singer's cause of death because of their ongoing investigation. a source tells cnn that jackson's doctor, conrad murray, gave jackson a powerful sedative, propofol in the 24 hours before he died. >> he is certainly one of the truisms of criminal law, cases don't get better with time. you should file a case as soon as you have good evidence. but this is a complicated case.

there is a lot of scientific evidence involved. the issue of cause of death. michael jackson's access to drugs is really a complicated one. and conrad murray is not a fugitive. he's not going anywhere. so i do think it makes a lot of sense to make sure you have the best case you possibly can before you file any charges. >> well, also yesterday, a judge delayed a decision about several contracts with the jackson estate. he wants to appoint a lawyer for jackson's children to go over details. the contracts are for tribute concerts in london next summer, and a traveling memorabilia exhibit. the judge already approved the documentary about jackson's rehearsals. it will be in theatres october 30th. you know that a lot of people are losing their jobs, and it turns out many are finding new ones fairly quickly. our money expert, jennifer westhoven has surprising news in a bad economy. >> yeah. it's not easy out there, robin.

and certainly we don't want to say, oh, everything is suddenly better. but there are signs of improvement in at least one survey of laid-off workers. as of the end of june, 48%, almost half the people who lost their jobs in this three months right before that, they had found new full-time jobs. so when they did this thing, study three months ago, the number of people finding jobs is better, it was up. and out of those who find jobs, a majority of them also said they got the same or better pay. so that's some good news out there. this survey was paid for by career builders, a job-hunting website. i do want to point out, if you look at the official numbers, the average -- the average length for looking for a job right now is about six months. so don't get discouraged if you don't find it this quickly. cash for clunkers. we have been talking about how it may be a great deal for you, but may not be so great for charities. there are some good cause that is rely on huge car donations as

part of their revenue, you have probably heard the ads. a texas charity says today it has loaned $75,000 in donations. we're in a cash-22 situation. obviously, a lot of the economy needs to be stimulated. on the other hand, we are depending on these donations. that's how we keep these kids in school. >> and that's just one charity, the national kidney foundation tells "usa today" it expects donations to fall 10 to 15%. of the house has said they hoped the impact would be negligible when it comes to charities. if you're traveling today, good news for you. >> yeah, finally, right? a good part of the summertime still good if you're traveling to the south. a couple thunderstorms arrive, but don't think it will be down for much more than an hour. here is what we call for for the day. in new york right now, later today thunderstorms popping up. and boston, philadelphia,

atlantic, cleveland and st. louis, half hour to hour delay. the one delay you have all day, the runway in charlotte, a 23-minnesota minute delay. some people caught on a roller coaster ended up stuck for hours. we're going to hear from the person who was waiting to get on the ride before it happened.

this is a breaking news story coming in. authorities are saying they have arrested six al qaeda linked group members allegedly planning to attack a u.s. military base there. that's all of the information we have this morning. we'll follow that story, but it's just now incoming. >> there is one body that has still not been found from a plane/chopper collision over the hudson river in new york city. police say the divers found the wreckage in the river yesterday and the eighth body's victim was inside. crews will live the plane from the water today. here was a 911 call that somebody made right after saturday's crash. nch>>

well, investigators are still trying to reconstruct what exactly happened. nine people were killed when the plane and a chopper collided in mid air. we're getting reaction now from people watched as a roller coaster stranded people. it happened on the invertigo in california. fire officials say that all 24 people were hanging upright, at least, from coaster. one witness claim close to being with them! >> we let people in front of us, so we were thinking that could have been us and stuff. so, yeah, it was pretty scary. >> a little bit disappointing,

and makes me wonder -- i'm skeptical how long they should be going, you know, during this. i would like to know what is the thing that caused the failure. >> well, crews brought everybody down in buckets, one at a time. it was 90 degrees outside. a spokesperson for the amusement park says safety is their number-one priority and they called for help immediately. still reeling from the fatal shooting of their coach, a high school football team is taking its first steps to try to recover. of this is the time of year they would probably spend two-a-days with them. >> exactly. and been with that school for 30 years, robin, and this is a guy you have to forgive the cliche, more of a father figure than a coach. he was gunned down in iowa. monday the team held its first practice. now, the two co-head coaches were both assistants and say they're just going to try to

keep it as routine as possible, going to start practice at the same time and the same way they always did under thomas. they're going to play their first game of the season on national tv on august 28th. and it was something out of a disney movie, and coincidentally took place in anaheim right near disney. vladimir guerriero was told, hit me a home run. and did he that in the second inning. then guess what? in the seventh inning he hit not only another home run, the game-winning home run, and the 400th of his career. and the crowd goes wild. and lastly, time for a little wackiness. those are not horses, those are ostriches, and this poor guy, i hope he is okay, got tossed from the ostrich. i'm glad they're wearing helmets. part of extreme race day in minneapolis. they also had camel races. reportedly, there was no wagering on the ostrich races. i guess that's a good thing. and there is your winner.

that's sports. >> what do you do for a living? race ostriches. do you have a business card for that? >> yeah. check this story. country stars brooks and dunn are calling it quits after nearly 20 years as a duo? ♪ >> yeah, in a statement on their website they say that their 2010 tour will be their goodbye to their fans. they said that the split is a mutual decision, and it's just time. the duo had 20 number-one hits since their 1991 debut. the pentagon won'ting forced to buy four new jets to fly senior government officials around. house leaders dropped the plan to add $330 million to the air force budge he, even though the pentagon didn't ask for it. robert gates said they're a waste of money. democratic representative john murtha had said they're needed because the older ones have

expensive maintenance issues. . someone was given a free washer and dryer all because of a free cup of coffee at this coffee shop.

good morning. how does tuesday look on the market? the markets are open and ringing the bell. we're looking at a flat open. investors will have their eye on the fed, and we're going to have a report here for you. senator edward kennedy says that his sister touched lives of millions. eunice kennedy shriver died this morning at the age of 88. shriver founded the special olympics, which started as a summer camp in her backyard in 1962. her family, including her daughter, maria shriver, were by her side at a hospital in massachusetts. today, crews are going to try to retrieve a plane that collided with a helicopter in new york on saturday.

wreckage from the chopper was pulled up sunday. a police spokesperson said that divers found the plane in the hudson river yesterday, and the eighth victim's body was inside. one victim is still missing. we're waiting longer to find out what killed michael jackson. the county coroner's office says the autopsy is done, but police have asked them not to release the cause of death because of their ongoing investigation. how is your tuesday shaping up for you? hope it's starting on a good night note. of i'm robin meade, welcome. equaty authorities say they have arrested six members of a group allegedly planning to attack the main u.s. military base in kuwait. the country's interior minister said the suspects gave detailed confessions about their plans. authorities say the men confessed to buying a truck and were planning on loading it with chemicals and gas cylinders and planned to ram it.

people will pack a gym today to ask the president about health care reform. it's part of the administration's effort to reshape the debate about the public insurance option. both critics and supporters are planning rallies around today's forum. there is extra security to keep the crowds under control. >> i think we have offers coming from every demographic, from old to young, to wealthy to poor, protesting this notion. but there are many people that are going there to show their support, rallying, or in favor of health care reform. and showing support of the president's policy. >> at the end of day, no one is hurt, the president is home, we'll be happy. >> president obama should get a good idea what should happen today nationwide. constituents have put maryland senator ben card began on defensive. >> i plan to turn 65 and this is

not medicare. >> the senator argued that medicare proves the government can run an insurance plan, because it's cheaper than private insurance for the elderly. two powerful earthquakes hit ten minutes apart in asia earlier today. in tokyo, at least one person was killed by falling debris, and more than 100 people injured. now, the first earthquake was a magnitude 7.6 in the indian ocean near india's andaman islands. the second was a 6.5 near tokyo. tsunami warnings were issued but later cancelled. the helicopter/plane collision in new york sunday was particularly disturbing to olympic swimmer dara torres. why, rafer? >> well, she glue wiflew with t helicopter pilot who died just two days before that fatal crash. torres told the "associated press" that her 3-year-old daughter met her in new york and wanted to go on a helicopter ride thursday. on saturday, that crash

happened, leefrg the pilot and eight others dead. torres said she found out about it from a newspaper photo of the pilot, and then she checked her own photo she took of the tour, and recognized him and got cochlear implants and said she said, it just wasn't my time yet. more in sports. robin. >> people were forced to spend the night on a grounded plane with a stopped up toilet, crying babies, no food, no water. the flight from houston to minneapolis was diverted to rochester, minnesota, because of bad weather. the 47 passengers were not allowed to get off that plane until 6:00 a.m. saturday morning! one passenger tells our sister network, cnn, that continental airlines is responsible. >> they had a little tiny airplane all night, and they need to get us off the airplane to the terminal 50 years away. when we went into the terminal at 7:00 in the morning, and spent another three hours, never went through security. we sat in the terminal. it's after security.

we spent three hours, and got back on the plane. security was not involved at that point, and should never have had to be involved. >> can you imagine the frustration level? well, expressjet, which ran that flight says that the passengers were not allowed to get off because of its screeners at the airport had gone off duty. continental airplanes is apologizing and offering refunds and vouchers to passengers. this is one of the stories today that really has people reacting on our facebook page. for example, roxanne wrote on facebook, the continental situation sounds a bit like a hostage situation, offering them a refund should be just the beginning! scott says i don't know how big the airport is -- this area was, but maybe it was misstated that it was a security issue. is the terminal so small maybe it closes at night? go to cnn.com/robin, and there is a link so you can type away. the air in there must have

been so stale. >> how long were they on there? >> six hours. but, you know, i mean -- i know people stuck in airplanes for six hours before. i think it's the fact that it was overnight that made people so upset. >> one guy said he didn't eat for 15 hours. i would have resorted to cannibalism by that time. that's enough for me. that's just ridiculous. it was in minneapolis. >> rochester. >> rochester, okay. so i would rather take my son to the public rest rooms in minneapolis. >> one person said they would have -- she said, i would have spent the night in the hospital -- in the jail, but at least i would have had a bed and some food. >> yeah, it's like a hostage situation. anyway, let me show you what's going on in the atlantic, finally activity out there, tropical storm wise. this is a tropical depression and we haven't seen one in good b three months now. you can see this highlighted in the circle, off the coast of the

african koebl continent, into a tropical storm later today or tomorrow. not a lot in the atmosphere, watching gradual strengthening, if it becomes a tropical storm, the first one on the list will be anna. so we're watching that. but still, any delay will happen. these are the rain showers around portland, maine sliding off the coast. and we're going to see hot temperatures to new york city. temperatures today, 90 to 95. of they have flooding rains in the western part of new york state. let me show you video we have coming out of that region. a few thunderstorms on sunday dropped about 3 to 4 inches of rain in one area. look think at this, silver creek out of buffalo. that is raging rain there, unbelievable. you can see the damage there. more showers, you can get that today, has to go by early this morning. then across florida, watching rain showers developing later today. so far, nothing.

tampa, miami, orlando, all dry. daytime heating, watch for that stuff to happen. as for the severe weather threat today, nashville through memphis toward little rock and oklahoma city. maybe even down south at denver today we could see thunderstorms. >> houston, let me show you what it looks like there for miami. it's going to be humid. scattered showers and thunderstorms. but right now, 92, 93 in miami. i never you lived there. i never had the pleasure. >> it was a fun culture shock in that -- i grew up in the middle of a corn field. and it was so many different cultures when i moved to miami. it was fun. >> a couple thunderstorms, but no big deal. typical august. >> thanks. right now, let's head to another locale, and this will be wall street. the winning gains and the

federal reserve kicking off a two-day policy meeting in washington. taylor, good morning. >> good morning, robin. pretty much. as investors wait patiently for decision on interest rates, will come wednesday as feds decide what its take is on the economy. the world's largest operator says the hospitality could be, get this, two years away. intercontinental hotels which also operates crown plaza, says this year has been one of the toughest on record. the hotel did say demand for rooms has stabilized. truth is, it's a tough market with all of the discounts being offered. plus there is a bid are war kicking off. southwest airlines is offering $60 million more than republic airways offered earlier this summer. a bankruptcy option is planned for thursday. and nassau one step further

into the atmosphere, looking for a way to make space travel more commercial. the able agency will reportedly spend $50 billion it got from the stimulus package to seed development of the so-called space taxi. space ship operators have 45 days to submit proposals. i don't know, robin. how do you feel about a space taxi? >> oh, i would get in one for a story, probably. but i wouldn't ride in it in real live. >> me neither. i don't know why. something about that makes me a little -- >> yeah, where are you going? thank you. a 4-year-old did not flinch when he realized that his grandpa needed help fast. why the kid's quick thinking might have made all of difference!

people are just lining up for experimental vaccines. government-funded tests on h1n1 vaccines are happening in eight u.s. cities, and experts say that scientists are working at break neck speed. volumeters don't know whether they're getting a h1n1 vaccine, a regular flu vaccine or a placebo. health officials expect to have doses available this fall. a 4-year-old made a 911 call that might have saved his grandpa's life. josh said his father ran a lawn blower into a loose board. josh was the only one who saw it happen and ran to call 911 and stayed there until his mom came. >> can we get -- can we get a rescue people to come out here because my papa is bad. >> okay.

what address? >> he doesn't know, hon. here i am. >> the family says that josh's grandfather could have bled to death. get your credit score before you rush off to buy your credit score. of hear what hln money expert clark howard has to say about what you really need. >> you know one of the most difficult, confusing things for a consumer is now that we know more and more about credit reports, is trying to decipher credit scores. because you heard me say scores plural, because you think you only have a single score. and, of the in, the credit bureaus all sing about how you can buy your score from them. but do you know that only one of the three major credit bureaus, give you a real score? that's equifax. equifax sells you fico score, the ones lenders use.

but transunion and experian are made-up scores nobody use to say make loans. so let me tell you something. when you are going to spends money to buy your score, buy the the real thing at myfico.com or at equifax.com. otherwise, get a free score that will give you an estimate at quizzle.com. i'm clark howard. for more ways for you to be smart with your wallet, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. so catch him at noon eastern on saturdays and sundays right here on hln. california senate leader is suing governor arnold schwarzenegger. he says that schwarzenegger overstepped his authority when he used his line item veto to cut almost half a billion dollars from the state budge he. the senate leader says that lawmakers needed to okay those cuts. they had already agreed on $24 billion in other cuts. schwarzenegger's spokesperson says that it was legal, and

financially necessary. ladies and gentlemen, blackingo has left the building. the former illinois governor channels his inner elvis. that's the tape we're seeing. ♪

this justify in this morning. of arlen specter, the democrat from pennsylvania is holding a town hall meeting this morning, and it started chi hely. it's about health care reform. and just like a lot of health care reform found ha town halls this one had a flare-up. >> it's failing. so i don't care -- i'm not a lobbyist with all kinds of money to stuff in your pocket so that you can cheat the citizens of this country. so i'll lead, and you can do whatever the hell you are ple e pleased to do. one day god is going to judge you and the rest of your damn cronies up on the hill.

>> all right. and then -- this has been some of what town hall meetings have become, with people asking questions and getting a little loud and flaerg up. we are about three hours away from president obama having his own town hall meeting about the same issue, health care reform. he is talking to people who already have insurance. you can see how emotional people are. you can see in the next 45 minutes a live preview. we're not sure where the president is going to be. tiger woods is apparently going to be a little lighter in the pocketbook after some of he upset some people? come on. >> well, remember, he was very critical of some of the officials. and tiger is usually, you know, a little less candid than this. and after he was, you know, upset, officials came and told him, padre kergton to pick up

the pace, and they said look, we're putting you on the clock. tiger says they basically ruined a great the pga, not too. they will fine him an undisclosed amount for saying those comments. and speaking of comments, white sox manager ozzie guillen has one, if you hit our players, we'll hit two of yours. ozzie went on one of his classic tirades after two of his players were hit by pitchers. he says, i'll probably be suspended for saying this, but would rather be suspended than having one of my players get hurt. and this is the 35th world cocktail championships from germany. 800 competitors from 52 countries and jen westhoven has one question, how's your side car. look it up on the google, because i'm out of time. >> the google. >> the google. >> love it. thank you.

one of those classic drinks, isn't it? >> yes. old school. >> bob would know. >> i'm more of a manhattan, on the rocks. not the fufu one. 23-minute delay in charlotte, that's what you're averaging. but it could be a lot worse, you have runway construction. new york city metros, things will start changing, 30-minute to an hour-delay later today because of the thunderstorms. just about half hour to hour-delays for the northeast cities. more on that in a little bit. if you thought you've seen it all after watching this, you will have seen it all. it is former illinois governor rod blagojevich jumping up on stage and doing an elvis impersonation. and the crowd kind of cheers him long. he sang elvis presley's "treat

me nice" a block party in chicago. he's also launched a new website where you can book him for speaking engagements. a denver coffee shop is offering free java all the time. so why would it be doing this? there is a catch.